Friday, February 8, 2019
AOC on 2020 Dems Calling Medicare for All Impractical: “I Reject That Outright”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtK-Su719Js
Cryptocurrency Firm Loses Codes and Gets Hacked, Millions Lost
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BTV912dPpc
Me want cookie: the idiot's guide to being a fun-loving modern fascist
by David Mitchell, The Observer, 12 April 2014
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/13/me-want-cookie-idiots-guide-fun-loving-modern-fascist-cookie-monster-david-mitchell?CMP=ema_1364
[...]
I'm referring to someone who, as far as we know, has never touched beer or cigarettes, which is probably a good thing as he seems to have rather an addictive personality. It's the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street, surely the world's most lovable personification of an eating disorder, whose image has been adopted by a group of German neo-Nazis in an attempt to recruit children.
[...]
"But how is this allowed?" you're probably asking. It isn't. Steffen Lange, who walked into a school playground in Brandenburg dressed as the Cookie Monster and started handing out neo-Nazi leaflets, has been arrested by the German police. I don't know whether the producers of Sesame Street are planning legal action but I imagine they'd have a case. Maybe they don't think there's much point since, as TV programmes go, Sesame Street is about as likely to be mistaken for being pro-Nazi as Dad's Army.
Then again, this wasn't an isolated incident: Cookie Monster-themed rightwing pamphlets were subsequently discovered at Lange's home, and the police have confirmed that the blue fluffy problem-eater's image is increasingly being abused by the region's far right to try and drum up support. A police spokesman speculated that it was an attempt to make neo-Nazism seem "a bit fun and a bit rebellious".
This is a fascinating strategy – and an insight into the mindset of the modern fascist. The Cookie Monster is anarchic, dynamic and madly driven by a very specific, but also totally random, aim: he wants cookies. He wants to charge around crazily smashing cookies into his mouth. He will never get enough cookies. It's unclear whether he understands this. Maybe he imagines some future stage of sated calm which he might achieve if, miraculously, he were to obtain all the cookies he desires. Or maybe he is wiser than that and knows it's all about the journey, his endless quest for biscuits.
These extremists' message is clear: that's what it's like to be a neo-Nazi. It's not mean, harsh and judgmental – not primarily, that's just a side effect. It's wild, active and devil-may-care. And violent – but it's not about whom the violence is directed at, that's not important. It's about the sensual joy of the violence itself. It's fun, dynamic, outdoorsy and liberated. Those who get hurt are collateral damage – hence the usefulness of a rationale by which hurting them is either good or irrelevant. As long as you see Jews and Gypsies as only so many cookies to be ground up in a cloth mouth, rather than as actual people, then it's all good clean fun.
You can't say this doesn't tap into a side of humanity that has always existed. Since the dawn of time, there have been plenty of us who just love running around and smashing things and people to bits. Think of the Vikings. They sailed around, pillaging, burning and looting, for centuries. They did it out of economic necessity; they did it out of greed; they did it out of hatred for other races and religions. But many of them must also have done it for fun. Some of those great warriors – skilled seamen and fearless soldiers – must have loved that life, loved running up to a coastal village and unleashing carnage.
Don't focus on our specific unpalatable views, Herr Lange and his colleagues are saying, focus on the thrill. There's something more primal in the appeal of extremist politics than any of its ostensible beliefs or policies – and the sensation is a lot like running around shouting "Cooookiiiiieeeessss!!!!!" For so long considered monsters by the political mainstream, these rightwingers are finally coming clean: "That's exactly what we are!" they're admitting. "Cuddly mindless monsters – and it feels amazing!"
But will they take these intriguing new recruitment tactics further? How else might fascists perk up their image now they're dispensing with all the tiresome Teutonic discipline and hate-sponsored pseudo-science and returning to their berserker roots?
Music
Can you imagine the Cookie Monster listening to Wagner, a nationalistic anthem or a marching band? Of course not – he's far too fidgety. The modern neo-Nazi wants a tune that's a lot more energetic and fun: Yakety Sax, Killing in the Name or the theme from Ski Sunday are all perfect upbeat accompaniments to any frenzy of hate.
Hashtags
Everyone knows that extremists say horrible things on social media, but a hashtag is a great way to put even the most vile remarks into a more upbeat context. Threats of violence in particular can be leavened if made cartoonish with postscripts such as #biff, #blam, #kersplat or #everydayracism.
Dress
The black shirt and the brown shirt, those staples of the fascists' glory days, have been lost to the jazz musician and the 1978 Coventry City away strip respectively (I used the internet in the preparation of this article). And anyway, they're far too staid for the wacky fascism of the Cookie Monster Nazis. So what about Hawaiian shirts? They're fun, they're crazy, they're slightly anarchic (within blandly uninventive parameters) and, like pineapple on a pizza, they provide the sort of meaningless nod to multiculturalism that helps less committed racists salve their lacerated consciences.
Dance
How better to separate actions from any sense of their meaning than with dance? The global success of "Gangnam Style" has shown the way. The extreme right needs to move on from the discredited fascist salute and develop some new gesture or move which can be aped by millions on YouTube. Something like a double thumbs-up while running on the spot, David Brent's dance from The Office or just a spot of rhythmic mooning would be ideal.
Baking
The choice of the Cookie Monster also suggests that, at a time when baking is so trendy, the far right has decided to reclaim the fascist oven from the shadow of Auschwitz. But, unlike their mascot, modern neo-Nazis don't just like cookies – they're into cakes, pies and puddings, but not soufflés, which are homosexual.
[...]
Exchange founder’s death a quandary for crypto
The real question over Gerry
Cotten’s death in India is can you really lose $200 million US dollars by
mislaying keys?
By LUKE THOMPSON
It has become a fact of the
modern age that trading and holding crypto-currency can be a risky business. If
traders store their holdings on exchanges, those risks are amplified because
their investments are susceptible to security breaches.
But now a much bigger problem
related to exchanges has emerged.
Earlier this week it was
reported that Gerry Cotten, the founder of Canada’s largest crypto
exchange Quadriga, had passed away and had left no information regarding the
cryptographic keys needed to access the investor accounts. The digital
coins that are stored there could be worth up to US$190 million.
According to the BBC, Cotten died
in December but the firm has only just filed for creditor protection after
failing to locate or secure its crypto-currency reserves, which the 30-year-old
CEO apparently had sole responsibility for.
According to the BCC, Quadriga
has said that Cotten died unexpectedly due to complications with Crohn’s
disease while traveling in India.
An affidavit filed in the
Supreme Court of Nova Scotia last week by Cotton’s widow confirmed that the
company holds $190 million on behalf of its customers around the world, the
majority of which was held in offline “cold storage” to mitigate the risk of
exchange hacks. These are the accounts that can only be accessed by the missing
cryptographic keys.
A Halifax judge granted
Quadriga a 30-day stay on Tuesday while the exchange continues to search for a
way to access the lost crypto. This has temporarily shielded the company from
lawsuits from clients, some of whom apparently have millions with Quadriga that
are inaccessible.
It has been estimated that
about 115,000 Quadriga account holders have personal accounts with the firm in
the form of both cash and crypto-currency.
Gerald Cotten’s widow,
Jennifer Robertson, claims to have her late husband’s laptop and USB sticks
that were used to run the business, but says without the cryptographic keys she
has no access to the devices or the locked funds.
Predictably, rumors have since
emerged that the whole thing could have been an elaborate exit scam and while a
large number of crypto sector news sites are running “show me the body” type
stories, there is also a growing body of investigative work that claims
Quadriga had always been deceptive about what actual crypto cold wallets
it had and what was stored there.
According to a lengthy,
detailed and apparently highly-technical Zerononsence
Blog report – that describes itself as an “in-depth analysis” on
Quadriga – there are a number of significant question marks regarding the
Canadian exchange’s trading practices and storage facilities.
The two key Zerononsence
report findings say it “appears that there are no identifiable cold wallet
reserves for Quadriga” and it “does not appear that Quadriga has lost access to
their Bitcoin holdings.”
By analyzing trading patterns
and wallet addresses – of which many, says the report, were deemed spurious –
the researchers have bluntly concluded that the exchange “has not been truthful
with regards to their inability to access the funds needed to honor customer
withdrawal requests.”
Quadriga did not announce the
death of its CEO until January 14 when
it announced that “it is with a heavy heart that we announce the sudden passing
of Gerald Cotten, co-founder and CEO of Quadriga. A visionary leader who
transformed the lives of those around him, Gerry died due to complications with
Crohn’s disease on December 9, 2018, while traveling in India, where he was
opening an orphanage to provide a home and safe refuge for children in need.”
As the web forum continue to
babble about the provenance of Cotton’s Indian death certificate and if and why
his body was cremated so quickly, what is clear is this was another big
between-the-eyes blow for the nascent crypto industry, which is still
trying to find its feet after a year of market
slides and scandals.
After all, it is very hard to
think of any other industry that could claim to lose almost $200 million of its
investor’s money because it mislaid some keys.
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Italy vetoes EU recognition of Guaido as Venezuela’s interim leader
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0yg9mKLWPg
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